Analysis of rotating membrane emulsification performance for oil droplet production based on the Taylor vortices approach

Membrane emulsification processes generally employ a cross flow of the continuous phase in order to produce shear stress. Modification of membrane emulsification for the o/w emulsion using the rotating system has been introduced such as the use of stirred cells or a rotating tubular membrane in a stationary liquid. This paper presents an examination of membrane rotation speed on droplet characteristics. The performance of rotating membrane emulsification on o/w droplet size, the coefficient of variation, and size distribution was investigated. In addition, the operated flow regime in the rotating membrane emulsification is addressed. It has been found that overall the droplet size decreased with the increase of membrane rotation speed. The droplet size below the pore size could be produced when operating at a high rotation speed (1500 rpm). The decrease of droplet size was believed due to the action of Taylor vortices on droplet detachment. Analysis of membrane rotation speed proposed that action of Taylor vortices facilitates droplet detachment. Calculation of Taylor numbers (having a value of 0–629) confirmed that the rotating membrane emulsification produced laminar flow with vortices.